McLaren Silver Cup

Great win for Habtoor to advance to quarter finals

By Gonzalo Etcheverry
Habtoor and Desert Palm scored wins in a new qualifying round of the McLaren Silver Cup, that takes place at Al Habtoor Polo Resort and Club. Habtoor remain unbeaten and earned a spot in quarter finals, while Desert Palm won their first game against Wolves.
Desert Palm and Wolves opened the third day of the tournament, in a match that had a very close start. However, Tariq Albwardy's team displayed tehir best polo in the second chukker, to take a wide 7-3 lead.
Desert Palm took advantage of every opportunity to score and extended their lead chukker after chukker. By the end of the day, they achieved a very important 13-6 victory.
Desert Palm's Alejo Taranco was the top scorer, with seven goals. Santiago Laborde was the MVP.
Score Desert Palm: 3-2, 7-3, 8-5, 11-6, 13-6.
Scorers:
Desert Palm: Alejo Taranco 7, Santiago Laborde 5, Martin Valent 1
Wolves: Manuel Cerspo 3, Ezequiel Martinez Ferrario 2, Habtoor Habtoor 1
Next up, Habtoor made an impressive comeback in the fifth chukker to defeat UAE 9 - 7,5.
Both teams played a great match. UAE had Guillermo Terrera and Jack Hyde as their leading men. Together, they made a terrific attack and by half time, UAE was 4,5 - 2 up.
Habtoor woke up in the fourth chukker. With Alfredo Cappella in his best form, Mohammed Al Habtoor's team quickly cut the margin to half goal ( 5 - 6,5) and took the lead in the last chukker, to complete their heroic 9 - 7,5 win.
Alfredo Cappella was the top scorer (seven goals) and Juan Zubiaurre took MVP honors.
Score Habtoor: 0-1.5, 0-2.5, 2-4.5, 5-6.5, 9-7.5.
Scorers:
Habtoor: Alfredo Cappella 7, Tommy Beresford 2
UAE: Guillermo Terrera 3, Jack Hyde 3, Pablo Llorente 1
The McLaren Silver Cup will resume on Wednesday January 25, with the match between Mahra and Bin Drai, at 4pm.
Photo Gallery, by PoloLinePhoto Gallery, by Gonzalo EtcheverryFull Match, Habtoor Wolves vs Desert PalmFull Match, Habtoor Polo vs UAE Polo